Book to film adaptations are hardly a new thing but since the commercial success of the Harry Potter movies (2001-2011), many studios have been buying the rights to popular fantasy young adult books in the hopes of creating their own successful franchises. But for every Hunger Games series (2012-2015) we get a misfired first entry such as The Golden Compass (2007), and unfortunately Mortal Engines is another muddled missed opportunity.

The film takes place around 1,000 years in the future where, following a global cataclysmic event called The Sixty Minute War, the planet’s surface has changed and the human race now live in giant mechanical towns and cities that roam the earth.

Hester Shaw (Hilmar) makes her way to London (now a giant city on tank tracks) to seek revenge on Thaddeus Valentine (Weaving), but this doesn’t go to plan and she escapes the city. She reluctantly teams up with exiled London resident Tom Natsworthy (Sheehan), where they journey back to London through a convoluted plot involving things such as a terminator like cyborg and a kick ass criminal / freedom fighter with a bounty on her head, who mostly wears sunglasses. As expected lots of events and set pieces unfold and they eventually have to save an Asian city from the destructive force of London.

The main criticism I have of this film is that it left me wanting more: not for a sequel, but more expositional conversations about this world and its people. Instead it feels like a lot of dialogue heavy scenes were cut in favour of special effect shots to trim its running time down to just over 2 hours, and even at this length the film seems long.

I’d like to know why Valentine wishes to venture halfway round the world in order to attack a ‘shield wall’ in Tibet and whether there is or was a war between them. I’d like to know when and why humans started dwelling in these cities, how old London is, and many other details.

On a positive this film looks stunning and I advise that if you wish to watch this film then to view it in 2D on a big screen. The production designers deserve a lot of credit for the sets, costumes and landscapes – ranging from the mammoth London to the smaller town-sized vehicles that interlock. Overall the visuals are truly great and it’s a rich, detailed and believable world. But unlike some films where the visuals do most of the storytelling, this film needed a lot more backstory in order to set up the importance of the events depicted.

As this film is produced by Peter Jackson, there will be comparisons to both The Lord of the Rings (2001 – 2003) and Hobbit (2012 – 2014) trilogies, as they are all based on bestselling fantasy series. But whereas Lord of the Rings spent time developing and differentiating the central characters, the Hobbit films didn’t and many characters were simply just ‘there’, didn’t add anything to the story and, as such, were forgettable.

Mortal Engines suffers in the same way as the Hobbit films due to many underdeveloped characters who are also just ‘there’ without any memorable scenes or traits, and for me the only character who got a sense of an arc is the cyborg Shrike (Stephen Lang). I would have liked Shaw to have grown as an integral character instead of being on a one-note quest for vengeance. Natswroth doesn’t appear to do much other than get in the way, which is a shame as Sheehan is a great comic actor and I advise you to see him shine in the first two series of Misfits (2009 – 2013). Hugo Weaving is great in everything I’ve seen him in, but he lacks the sense of malice that a central villain should have.

The film crumbles in the last act as plot threads are forgotten, there is an obvious twist and it descends into cheesiness, and I didn’t really care about the films grand finale. This is a shame as the film’s opening is strong as we see London chase down and devour a small mining town, and it is a truly exhilarating sequence.

Unlike a lot of ‘franchise springboards’, Mortal Engines doesn’t plant teasers for a sequel and just sort of ended. I love dystopian sci-fi but this film ultimately fell flat, which is a shame as this world has a lot of potential, and I feel that this film will fail at the box office and be another forgettable attempt at starting a franchise.

Overall Verdict: Mortal Engines unfortunately misses the mark which is a shame as the concept of this world is rich for exploration. Visually it’s stunning, but it lacks a lot of overall character and plot development.

For those who don’t know, Anna and the Apocalypse is about a secondary school girl named Anna. It’s based in Scotland, at Christmas, with a zombie outbreak, and it’s a musical. My initial thoughts were that this film could either be terrible or a lot of fun, and thankfully it’s the latter.

Fleshing out the plot (pun fully intended) Anna (Hunt) is a young girl who dreams of travelling the world despite her father Tony (Mark Benton) wishing for her to attend university. Her best friend John (Cumming) is unfortunately in the friend zone, American exchange student Steph (Swire) has been abandoned by her family who are on holiday in Mexico, and the night after the school Christmas variety performance a zombie apocalypse has broken out across the their local town and the globe.
Anna along with the above and film nerd Chris (Leveaux) must venture to their school where several parents and students are taking refuge along with newly appointed head teacher Mr Savage (Kaye), and along the way they all try to stay alive while rescuing Anna’s father and Chris’ girlfriend, Lisa (Marli Siu).

So that’s the basic plot but of course there are many twists and turns along the way, some predictable, some not so much, but all in all it’s a fun and festive romp.

While it’s set in Scotland, the film doesn’t come across as being eye-pokingly Scottish, which is a good thing, and grim social realistic politics don’t really belong in this film. So no comparisons to the likes of Trainspotting (1996) or Neds (2010), but also you would be foolish to compare this film to Shaun of the Dead (2004), although it does have one or two ‘zip crash’ edits that are a staple of Edgar Wright’s films. Yes, there are the familiar ‘zombie apocalypse’ plot beats and homages that we’ve seen countless times, but what makes this a fresh entry to the genre is the fact it’s a musical; and features some great songs too.

The songs don’t suddenly start out of nowhere or feel out of place and are generally fun, witty, and as per all good musicals, help drive the plot and give exposition to what the characters are feeling when faced with internal and external crises. We also have a hilarious song about Lisa’s love for Santa, a song about there being no such thing as a Hollywood ending, and amongst others a song about hunting zombies. As expected there are accompanying dance routines and this adds to the overall fun of the film.

The movie is well cast and it seems like the majority were all plucked from stage school, and I hope they all go on to have great careers. Ella Hunt’s performance as the titular Anna is great and helps hold the film together, and she plays it straight which helps this film stray into b-movie territory. Malcolm Cumming plays John on the right level of likeable geek without being too stereotypical or annoying, and Paul Kaye is also fantastic as the controlling, generally horrible Mr Savage.

I’m pleased to say that on the whole this genre mashup of a film works well and keeps a generally consistent tone. It’s not perfect and some of the laughs just fall flat as do some of the more serious emotional beats, but to be fair this film will never win any awards for best drama and if you’re expecting it will then you need to remind yourself it’s a high school Christmas zombie musical, so expect a bit of fun!

So where does a film like this sit? It’s very much a film of its time and I hope it will gain a strong following and be shown in late night cinemas across the world for years to come and make the transition to stage one day. Like many films it has its flaws but I was impressed by the cast, the songs and what the filmmakers had done with its low budget. It’s full of humour, heart, guts and various other bodily parts.

Overall Verdict: Anna and the Apocalypse is one of those unique genre-mashup films that come along every few years and in this case works very well. It’s a surreal joy to watch and is often hilarious in both visual style and the catchy songs which altogether help drive the plot, but you would be mistaken to compare this to the likes of Shaun of the Dead or High School Musical. It’s a film of the times that is destined for cult status and is a highly entertaining and silly film.

On finishing this film actress Dakota Johnson apparently went straight into therapy, with myself right behind her. This remake of the 1977 Italian horror “classic” (which no one actually called it) is one of the daftest, silliest, most bonkers things you will see all year. It’s like The Red Shoes (now there is a classic) mixed with Black Swan, but turned all the way up to 11 and with a bucket of blood poured over it. Some horror fans will love it for those reasons, others may find it all too noisy, gory or just plain silly. [Read more…]

When Overlord was announced many speculated if this would be another Cloverfield anthology film, as it’s another obscure low-budget movie produced by JJ Abrams. Thankfully it’s not connected (unless there is a universe aligning Easter egg that I missed). This is pleasing as a shelved film called God Particle had additional footage shot and poorly edited in to become The Cloverfield Paradox (2018), thus linking it to the franchise to negative effect, which is a shame as I like the concept of its original incarnation.

For those who don’t know the basic plot of Overlord, it is about a squad of American Allied troops shot down over France hours before D-Day, who encounter a group of Nazis that have been experimenting on reanimating the dead. Yep, it’s a World War 2 movie with zombie Nazis. [Read more…]

Director James Marsh certainly likes bringing stories based on real life events to the big screen. Following The Theory of Everything (2014) and The Mercy (2018), he brings us the heist caper King of Thieves, which is based on the infamous Hatton Garden safe deposit burglary back in 2015. That crime was already the subject of last year’s The Hatton Garden Job, starring Matthew Goode and Larry Lamb, but not it’s getting the Michael Caine treatment.

As with all films based on true stories liberties are taken with the source material in order to translate it to the audience as a piece of entertainment rather than a documentary, and unlike Marsh’s previous film, The Mercy, King of Thieves is a more humorous and light hearted affair. [Read more…]

Wes Anderson can be an infuriating director sometimes – far too arch and quirky for the sake of it. However here, in this stop motion tale, he decides to use his imagination but reign in the gaucheness. The result is a film that radiates warmth, charm and a gentle humour, without trying too hard.

It’s an intriguing set up. In a corporate, greedy Japan of the future, the country has decided to get rid of its garbage on a tiny island. There too they put their dogs, after they discover the mutts all have dog flu and snout disease. The poor mutts scrape out a miserable existence, feeding on scraps and trying to stay alive.

However, the adopted son of the emperor finds his own pooch has been shipped onto the island, and so flies out to try and find Spots. He crash lands and befriends a gang of dogs, including stray Cranston, Norton, Murray, Goldblum and Johansson, who all join in a doggie version of Saving Private Ryan.

And what an adventure they have. There are all sorts of visual gags as the gang make their way across the polluted, ruined island which was inhabited by humans before a tsunami emptied it. My own favourite moment was the old golf course and country club, which now has “no members”. The attention to detail is fantastic, the dog shelter is made of recycled sake bottles, and the boy’s plane is a knackered piece of wonder.

There is clearly a message here about recycling and cleaning up our fragile planet, as well as the love of humans for dogs – say the title of the film quickly and you’ll see what I mean – but it’s never heavy handed.

Half of the fun is trying to place the voices to the actors, and Cranston is particularly good as the stray who has never felt the love of a human, or even the joy of a doggie snack.

Overall verdict: If you don’t go out and get a dog immediately after watching this joy you’re not, well, human. Wes Anderson has produced a gem. It’s one of his best films ever. Or the best, even?